A Brief Meet Up with YR

During a brief meet up with YR, I'd learnt...

(a) The business world is a harsh one. Your survival may also suggest that your business rivals will be dying/dead. He related how the employees of one of his business rivals went without salaries for some months. It pained him. But he is also working for his own survival and the salaries for many of his employees.

(b) Through hard times, we may see the "true" hearts. Sometimes, it can be rather hurting. Even biological brothers can become quiet "heartless". His mother is rather ill. One of his brothers (YQ) approached him. YQ told YR that he didn't have the means to chip in their mother's medical expenses and suggested that YR should bear all the medical expenses as his business is doing pretty fine. But shortly after, this brother bought a new car and was in Italy for a 25-day holiday. When asked, the reply was "that was the best time to buy a car and that was the best time to be in Italy".

(c) It is so expensive to get sick here (okay, anywhere, perhaps). The treatment can be so costly. But if you have the means to pay, the treatments (medical or attitudinal) can be better and different. Apparently different medicines are prescribed for a different price-tag-treatment. His mother medical fees can run up easily to a 6 figure sum, but the medicines prescribed are assured to have the least side-effects.

(d) The environment can change a person. He witnessed how CKe has changed. CKe is a very close friend of his and he works in Shanghai now. CKe proclaimed he only socialises for business purposes and has no time to socialise or meet up with friends now.

(e) Children are indeed smarter now. His daughter is only 2.5 year-old. She amazed me when I see how she tackled a 50 piece jig-saw puzzle. We may have more used to the "categorise-and-trial-and-error" approach. Her daughter is different. She would observe some of the already-joined pieces carefully and then she will search for what she wanted and attempt to fit that selected piece right in. While I was with her, she was 100% correct for all her first picks! I admit defeat.

(f) Your young subordinates maybe leading a "better" life than you. YR stays in a HDB flat and drives a Nissan. Many of his employees are staying in condos and driving big cars. These are fine with him. But when questioned, he learnt that these young employees do not have the habit of saving and some resort to taking parents' money to gratify their wants. These young employees even have the mentality that parents are obliged to provide these for them.

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小故事、大启示

The Most Beautiful Woman

"Imogen is on a quest to find the most beautiful woman in Singapore. Send in your nomination with pictures and tell us why she's the most beautiful woman you know. The winner will be the face of Imogen for our next big marketing campaign. Closing date is end of the month. Terms and conditions apply. Which means no dispute over the final decision by our judges?"

Within a few weeks, thousands of letters were delivered to Imogen Inc., Singapore.

One entry in particular caught the attention of the employees.

Because it generated so much attention, it was promptly handed to the company president.

With spelling corrections, an excerpt from the letter read: "A beautiful woman lives down the street from me. I visit her every day. She makes me feel like the most important kid in the world. She listens to my problems. She understands me and when I leave, she always tells me that she's proud of me. This picture shows you that she is the most beautiful woman. I hope I have a wife as pretty as her."

Intrigued by the letter, the president asked to see this woman's picture. His secretary handed him a photograph of a smiling, toothless woman, well-advanced in years, sitting in a wheelchair. Sparse gray hair was pulled back in a bun and the wrinkles that formed deep furrows on her face were somehow diminished by the twinkle in her eyes.

The company never did use that woman, and years later, when former employees of Imogen got together, they still related that ol' story about Mr Hu's reaction to the picture?

"We can't use this woman," explained the president, smiling. "She would show the world that our products aren't necessary to be beautiful."